%%%%PUBLIC SERVICE REMINDER: This is an AudienceReaction%%your "justifications", "however" or Natter don't matter on somebody's else's AudienceReaction%%LEAVE THEM OFF, PLEASE%%If something's blatantly wrong, just remove it%%%%%%%%%%%%%Also, Put every example in chronological order to avoid chaos and confusion%%%%%%%%%

... but can't do anything about stupidity, apparently.

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[[folder:General]]* In between seasons 5 and 6, Starlight mentions that she tends to get lost in Twilight's castle a lot.\\'''You'd Expect''': Somepony to either draw her a map or accompany her around the castle.\\'''Instead''': She continues to wander around by herself, getting lost each time.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 1]]* In "The Ticket Master", Princess Celestia gives Twilight two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. She decides to keep one and give the other to somepony else since Spike doesn't want it. The rest of the then-new Elements of Harmony hear about this and soon Twilight is caught in a dilemma. She decides to think it over while grabbing a bite to eat.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The rest of the Mane Six to give Twilight some time to make her decision and let eat her lunch since she can't decide on an empty stomach.\\'''Instead:''' They all decide to keep pestering her with extra favors and not even give her a chance to eat, let alone think her decision over. Eventually, the entire town hears about the extra ticket and ''they'' get in on the act as well.* "Applebuck Season":** Applejack has been getting dizzy and is having trouble hearing due to a lack of sleep. Twilight Sparkle checks on her and asks if she can do anything to help.\\'''You'd Expect''': Applejack to accept Twilight's offer no matter how big or small. They can also round up her other friends to start harvesting from the apple trees so she can get some rest like a honest friend.\\'''Instead''': She [[RefusalOfTheCall refuses]] and continues buck the apple trees. Applejack's condition deteriorates throughout the episode by repeatedly rejecting Twilight's help, leading to the following moments below.** Rainbow Dash wants Applejack's help in doing a "mite dangerous" stunt, where the latter will jump on a springboard target to launch Rainbow Dash into the air. Because she's exhausted and getting double vision, Applejack keeps missing the target and landing on her rear, getting WingDingEyes.\\'''You'd Expect''': For Rainbow Dash to call a time out, and see if Applejack is okay. Since she isn't, a five minute break might be a good okay. There's something obviously wrong if Applejack has missed the target five times.\\'''Instead''': Rainbow Dash has NoSympathy and FailedASpotCheck, yelling at Applejack for being undependable. This leads to Applejack trying to merely push down the target, before giving one last go with her last bit of strength, at the one time Rainbow Dash isn't ready. Rainbow Dash speeds through the air before crashing into Twilight's tree, only realizing belatedly that Applejack needs help.** Pinkie Pie and Applejack attempt to bake muffins while Mr. and Mrs. Cake are not at Sugarcube Corner. Applejack, unfortunately is tired from apple bucking by herself. Her sleepiness causes her to misread the ingredients and instructions, causing her to substitute potato chips for chocolate chips, soda pop for baking soda, a cup of sour lemon juice for a cup of flour, and earthworms for wheat germ. All that will end up not making a good muffin.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Pinkie Pie to notice the ingredients not being right (especially the earthworms instead of wheat germs) and maybe tell the sleepy Applejack that something isn't right with the ingredients, stop with baking the muffins and start over (maybe with her baking the muffins by herself or with another pony that isn't tired). You'd have to be idiotic to not notice any disgusting ingredients that aren't right, and Pinkie is ''a professional baker''.\\'''Instead:''' Pinkie doesn't even notice ''any'' of the ingredients not being right, and ends up baking the "Baked Bads". She ends up causing lots of ponies (including [[LethallyStupid Pinkie herself]]), to get sick!** Fluttershy needs Applejack's help in rounding up bunnies for her bunny census. However, Winona's barking and Applejack's tough demeanor frightens them.\\'''You'd Expect''': Fluttershy to protect the bunnies and ask Applejack and Winona to stop scaring them. At the very worst, she can tell Applejack she doesn't need her help at the moment.\\'''Instead''': [[DeerInTheHeadlights She just stands there]] and the bunnies take off from Applejack and Winona, causing them to stampede through Ponyville. This turns out to be Twilight's final straw for Applejack [[CantTakeCriticism who still refuses her help]] but it's only Applejack discovered she only bucked half the orchard when she realizes she needs Twilight and friends to help. She then apologizes for her dishonesty.* "Boast Busters":** Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash comment on Trixie's showing off and agree that she needs to be taught a lesson in humility. However, Rainbow Dash heckles Trixie who points out the "neigh-sayers in the audience" and challenges anypony to an impromptu magic showdown. While Rarity, like Trixie, is a unicorn who can match the show mare's skills...\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack and Rainbow Dash to think twice about accepting Trixie's challenge, considering her magic can readily overpower that of an earth pony and a pegasus.\\'''Instead:''' Without any hesitation, they both take on Trixie and she [[CurbStompBattle easily defeats the two of them]], [[HumiliationConga humiliating them in front of Ponyville in the process.]]** Trixie also brags to the residents of Ponyville about how she defeated an Ursa Major. [[ThoseTwoGuys Snips and Snails]] believe the story, yet Trixie becomes defensive when they bring it up. Spike tells them there's no way they should believe her since they never saw her do it.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Snips and Snails to think for a moment that Trixie could be making it up.\\'''Instead:''' They go into the Everfree Forest and bring an Ursa to Ponyville just to see Trixie vanquish it with their own eyes. Before Trixie [[spoiler:confesses that she never did such a thing]], she even lampshades this to Snips and Snails. Thankfully, Twilight Sparkle shows up and stops the Ursa before it can do any real damage. Afterward, [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom thanks to Snips and Snails]], Trixie loses her caravan, her reputation, and her livelihood, and comes back seeking revenge on all of Ponyville, namely [[MisplacedRetribution Twilight]].* "Dragonshy": ** Fluttershy freaks out when she finds out that a dragon has taken refuge in Equestria, and whose smoke is dangerous to the living creatures there. Due to being terrified, however, she becomes paralyzed and unwilling to help her friends journey to get rid of it, despite being a FluffyTamer.\\'''You'd Expect''': That the ponies would try to find out why she's so scared before they start out, despite Fluttershy's tongue-tied nature. Even with the time limit in that the smoke will eventually spread and suffocate everyone, they can at least promise Fluttershy that they'll be there for her to help with the dragon and to back her up. Twilight in particular may know coping strategies to keep Fluttershy distracted long enough to reach the cave.\\'''Instead''': For the most part they assume that Fluttershy is scared of her own shadow, and various things that crop up during the journey, due to her being a ShrinkingViolet. Fluttershy as a result becomes TheMillstone and wastes a lot of valuable time, by fainting at the wrong time and causing a perilous avalanche. They only find out about her irrational (to their mind) phobia when they finally reach the cave, and Fluttershy apologetically refuses to help.** Twilight's attempt to lure the dragon out of the cave falls flat so Rarity steps up to the challenge. She does this by sweet-talking the dragon, telling him he needs to show off his radiant scales. This seems to work, even as Rarity notices the [[DragonHoard dragon's large treasure hoard]].\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rarity to just ignore the jewels and keep bolstering the dragon into getting out of the cave.\\'''Instead:''' [[SkewedPriorities Clearly wanting the jewels for her own personal gain]], she offers to watch over them once he leaves. Naturally, [[BerserkButton this upsets the dragon]] who chases her out.\\'''Bonus Idiot Points:''' For actually ''trying'' on some of the jewels while convincing the dragon to leave.\\'''Then:''' Pinkie Pie's plan to lure the dragon out with laughter also fails so Rainbow Dash becomes fed up. She tells her friends that she will get the dragon out of the cave herself, much to Twilight's horror.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rainbow Dash to remember how badly her friends' attempts turned out, take a deep breath and organize another plan with her friends.\\'''Instead:''' She charges into the cave and [[BullyingADragon kicks the dragon in his snout]]. Needless to say, the dragon gets even madder and he starts attacking Rainbow Dash [[FromBadToWorse and her friends.]] He is finally stopped when [[ShrinkingViolet Fluttershy]] gives him a talking to.* "Look Before You Sleep": Applejack and Rarity are spending the night at Twilight's house due to a thunderstorm. At one point, lightning strikes a nearby tree, rendering its top loose. Applejack needs to tear it down, since she and Rarity were too busy arguing earlier in the day to properly get the job done.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to find an angle where the tree won't disrupt any houses, then try to take the treetop down.\\'''Instead:''' She attempts to lasso the treetop from Twilight's bedroom, causing it to break off and fly right into her house.* In "Bridle Gossip", Applejack catches her sister Apple Bloom going off to the Everfree Forest in search of Zecora. Due to the Poison Joke shrinking her to a few inches high, the only way Applejack can stop her is by hiding in Apple Bloom's tail.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to avoid detection by keeping quiet until Apple Bloom arrives at Zecora's hut.\\'''Instead:''' She yells at Apple Bloom to stop as they reach the entrance to the Everfree. Apple Bloom puts her on a tree branch and goes off without her.* In the episode "Call of The Cutie", Apple Bloom is in class and Diamond Tiara passes a note to her. Cheriliee (the teacher) catches Apple Bloom and demands her to read the note. She sees the note on the floor and mentions that it’s blank. Diamond Tiara then retorts “Sound like anything else we know? [referring to Apple Bloom's blank flank]” The class laughs at Apple Bloom.\\'''You’d Expect:''' For Cheerilee to scold Diamond Tiara for what she did.\\'''Instead:''' [[AdultsAreUseless She does nothing.]]\\'''Thus:''' Diamond Tiara's a [[KarmaHoudini karma houdini]].* “Fall Weather Friends” has its share of these moments between Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the Running of the Leaves. Chief among them would be to pay attention to the course and not attempt to sabotage each other. But the tree with the beehive really takes the cake.\\'''You’d think:''' Applejack would just continue on and find some ''other'' way to stall Rainbow Dash, if she wanted to [[XMustNotWin stop her]] ''that'' badly.\\'''Instead:''' She delivers a kick to the trunk, knocking down the hive. The angry bees chase Rainbow Dash, who ironically winds up well in the lead as a result. Really, Applejack? You think a swarm is going to ''slow'' her down?* "Suited for Success" has few moments around the dresses that Rarity makes as gifts to her friends so they'll look their best for the Grand Galloping Gala. ** After finishing the initial gowns once, Rarity shows them off. The other ponies are hesitant since the dresses aren't what they had in mind: Twilight wants the star embroidery be technically accurate, Fluttershy wants "French haute couture," Pinkie Pie wants fun stuff like "balloons,lollipops and streamers" Applejack wants a practical outfit, and Rainbow just wants something "cool".\\'''You'd Expect''': For someone to suggest that the ponies try on the dresses first, and see how they look. If they still aren't satisfied, Rarity could do sketches instead of actual sewing to take their suggestions into account without wasting fabric.\\'''Instead''': Rarity, wanting her friends to be happy immediately insists on modifying the designs without any pony trying on their gowns to see the fit. Her friends proceed to go overboard with their suggestions, except Rainbow Dash. This causes Rarity to get overworked.** Also, Rarity wants to put on a fashion show of the designs in question, and fashion critic Hoity Toity is coming to visit. Rarity knows that the new designs look "ugly".\\'''You'd Expect''': That she would ask the girls to wear the original dresses as a favor to her, and they would comply, since their modified gowns are ready for the Gala, they just have to wear the originals for one night, and her career is at stake.\\'''Instead''': No such communication occurs. The girls wear the modified gowns, which cause the fashion show to be a disaster and Rarity to be a laughingstock. Rarity, already overworked, goes into HeroicBSOD and won't leave her room for days, without having designed her Gala gown. Her friends fortunately snap her out of it and undo the damage they have wrought on her reputation, but it could have been avoided if they had listened to Rarity in the first place.* "Feeling Pinkie Keen":** Twilight Sparkle has never heard of Pinkie Pie's [[SpiderSense Pinkie Sense]] which she uses to predict any lurking danger.\\'''You'd Expect''': Twilight to trust her ability which everypony have magic and abilities, as she knowing [[CloudCuckooLander her status around Ponyville]].\\'''Instead''': She refuses to believe Pinkie's instincts and it causes her to keep getting hurt.\\'''Throughout This''': While Twilight tests the Pinkie Sense, Spike notices when the Pinkie Sense will trigger accidents.\\'''You'd Expect''': Twilight to listen to him for her own safety.\\'''Instead''': She still denies the Pinkie Sense and each time she gets hurt by failing to understand it. [[BeeAfraid She gets stung by bees]], [[EpicFail falls into Applejack's hidden door]] and [[RuleOfThree gets her head smashed]] by a [[CueTheFallingObject flower pot, an anvil, a hay cart and a piano]] from a moving company run by pegasi above.** After been chased by the Hydra, Twilight's friends make it to the other side of a cliff.\\'''You'd Expect''': Twilight to teleport herself to her friends.\\'''Instead''': She doesn't and falls off the cliff, only to be saved by the bubbles below.* In "A Bird in the Hoof", Fluttershy goes to Sugarcube Corner for Princess Celestia's brunch. While there, she brought her pet bird, Philomena, along. Fluttershy notices that the bird seems to be really, really sick, but little do they know that Philomena is actually a phoenix, that is currently undergoing the death and rebirth cycle of losing its feathers, burning to ash, then being resurrected. Celestia has to leave early due to the mayor of Ponyville wanting to see her.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That before Celestia leaves, Fluttershy would ask Celestia if she could take care of her bird, which would then lead to Celestia explaining that Philomena is a phoenix close to its death and rebirth, thus avoiding the plot completely and saving Fluttershy the trouble.\\'''Instead:''' Without asking, Fluttershy takes Philomena undetected, and attempts to take care of the bird without Celestia's permission. This causes a lot of trouble for Fluttershy and also Twilight, who don't find out about the whole phoenix thing UNTIL after Philomena completes her death and rebirth cycle at the end of the episode. Fluttershy lampshades this at the end of the episode.* In "Owl's Well That Ends Well", Twilight tells Spike to get her a book that she owns about astronomy. When pulling it out of the shelf, he accidentally sneezes on it, causing it to burn to ashes. He gets worried about what Twilight would say to him.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike would tell the truth to her.\\'''Instead:''' He lies and says that he couldn't find it. Later on, he gets scolded by Twilight when she and Owlowiscious find out about this.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Spike would realize that he would have only himself to blame.\\'''Instead:''' [[NeverMyFault He blames it on Owlowicious]] and tries to get rid of him by framing him for killing a mouse (which was fake), only to get caught in the act by Twilight.\\'''The Result:''' Spike, after being scolded again by Twilight and believing she no longer loves him, runs away and unknowingly takes refuge in a cave filled with gems, which belongs to a very large and aggressive dragon. Luckily, Twilight and Owlowiscous arrive just in time to save Spike (having followed his ketchup covered footprints).\\** Owlowicious starts doing stuff for Spike at night.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike would realize that he can't do everything at once and would accept Owlowiscious as an assistant to him.\\'''Instead:''' He gets jealous and tries to get rid of him, but to no avail.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Twilight to immediately catch onto this and explain to Spike that Owlowicious is only there to be her nighttime assistant, so that Spike can get some sleep. Fluttershy even points this out to her, saying that Spike thinks he's being replaced.\\'''Instead:''' Twilight laughs it off and automatically assumes that Spike knows he can't be replaced. This leads to all of the above mentioned.\\

* In "Party of One", the rest of the Mane 6 are avoiding Pinkie Pie and making up false reasons not to attend Gummy the Alligator's after-birthday party (the reason behind this was to create a surprise birthday party for Pinkie Pie, as that day was her birthday). Pinkie interrogates Spike to give her answers as to why they were avoiding her all day. After some failed attempts, she loses her patience and says, "Tell me that my friends are all lying to me and avoiding me because they don't like my parties and they [[SuddenlyShouting DON'T WANT TO BE MY FRIENDS ANYMORE]]!"\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike to tell Pinkie Pie that, save for Twilight, he has no idea what she's talking about since he hasn't been in contact with the rest of Pinkie's friends.\\'''Instead:''' He literally repeats what she just said back to her.\\'''So:''' Pinkie then takes it as her final answer, and her mane and tail go back to the form it was in when she lived on her parents' rock farm during her depressing childhood prior to the Sonic Rainboom, and also becomes severely depressed, believing that her friends don't like her parties and don't want to be friends with Pinkie anymore.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Spike to realize Pinkie is NotHerself make some attempt to cheer her up.\\'''Instead:''' He doesn't even notice Pinkie's funk, and just selfishly eats all the gems that he was offered, and Pinkie is left going insane by doing a mock party with inanimate objects. [[FridgeHorror Who knows what would've happened if Rainbow Dash never stopped by and dragged Pinkie to her surprise birthday party and made her feel better]]?* "The Best Night Ever"** Rarity has been dreaming of meeting Prince Blueblood. He makes a bad first impression on her, however, by giving her an ItsAllAboutMe attitude. He shows no respect, generosity or compassion towards her. Rarity admits that he wasn't quite what she dreamed of and is ruining her fantasy of "the best night ever".\\'''You'd Expect''': Rarity to pick her battles and leave the prince. There are dozens of royal folk at the Gala that she could stay with for the evening who share Blueblood's status.\\'''Instead''': Hoping that her kindness will bring out his princely side, Rarity stays with Blueblood. He proceeds to use her shawl over a puddle, get her to open a door for him, refuse to pay for Applejack's fritters and insults said fritters after tasting them. To top it all off, he uses her as a HumanShield when Pinkie Pie launches a cake towards them, ruining her handmade dress. He doesn't even respond to Rarity's subsequent TheReasonYouSuckSpeech because he's too worried about getting dirty from the cake and frosting.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 2]]* "The Return of Harmony, Part 2":** Continuing off of the previous episode, Discord has corrupted The Mane Six, except for Twilight Sparkle, he has also given back their wings and horns when declared that "the game is over". So Twilight can use her magic again.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight to notice the fact that the color change of her friends turning grey as they get Discorded, use her regained magic abilities (i.e. cast a memory spell) to try to fix the situation and try to restore her friends and uncorrupt them right away.\\'''Instead:''' While Twilight uses her magic to move certain objects, such as Rarity's "diamond" (which is actually a boulder), the Elements of Harmony necklaces and tiara (which is Twilight's) and flipping through her reference guide of the Elements of Harmony, she ''never'' even tries to use her magic abilities to restore her corrupted friends, and the situation ends up continually getting worse, up to the point where Twilight [[HeroicBSOD loses hope and she gets discorded and turns grey and becomes severely depressed]]. If Celestia's letters hadn't shown up and Twilight didn't read them, [[TheBadGuyWins Discord would have triumphed]]!** After Twilight restores her friends in the third act, she confronts Discord, who is ruling Ponyville in chaos.\\'''You'd Think:''' Discord would notice the fact the Mane 6 have regained their colors and have been restored to their actual elements and simply corrupt them again, saving him from being turned to stone again.\\'''Instead:''' While he does attempt to grab them by using his psychic powers, he doesn't notice about their restored selves, gloats them in an unenthusiastic way saying "Fine, go ahead. Try to use your elements, frienemies. Just make it quick.", and suffers the consequences and turns back into stone.* "Lesson Zero"** Twilight freaks out when she realizes she forgot to send a letter to Princess Celestia about a friendship lesson she's learned. Spike tries to reassure her that Celestia won't begrudge her for missing a letter, but Twilight doesn't listen. When she rushes through Ponyville searching for a problem to solve with friendship, her friends are managing their problems well on their own.\\'''You'd Expect''': Twilight to simply dash off a letter about her observations. She can write about how getting too involved in other ponies' businesses can stress a friendship, how with Rainbow Dash and Applejack they can overcome their differences to reach a common goal or that somepony like Fluttershy can handle a bear with a bad neck.\\'''Instead''': She doesn't consider that a rush job may be better than no assignment at all. This causes her to undergo SanitySlippage and decides to "create a problem" to solve. This causes chaos in Ponyville that Princess Celestia has to bail her out of.* In "Luna Eclipsed," several WhatAnIdiot moments occur.** First, when Luna first makes her appearance, it at first seems that Nightmare Moon has returned, but she announces that she wants to clean up her image and throw a feast on Nightmare Night. Pinkie Pie then scares the other ponies by claiming "Nightmare Moon" wants to eat them.\\'''You'd think''': The Mayor would remember to respect the princess, who is kin to Celestia, and calm down the other ponies.\\'''Instead''': The Mayor remains in scared, StunnedSilence, and doesn't react when Luna offers her hand. This offends Luna, and the latter walks off on a huff, planting the seeds of her decision to announce that Nightmare Night is cancelled. ''Twilight'' is the only pony who realizes that Luna's feelings are hurt, and goes to help her. So much for staying on good terms with the royalty.** Likewise, when Twilight tries to help Luna, they go to Fluttershy first, but Pinkie Pie messes up Luna's efforts to speak softly the way Fluttershy does and gain a better public image.\\'''You'd think''': Twilight's next stop would be to go to Pinkie Pie and tell her to [[WhatTheHellHero knock it off]], or even better, make peace with Princess Luna. In this way, Pinkie could communicate that she's only pretending to be scared, the way she does later on when she shakes hooves with Princess Luna.\\'''Instead''': Twilight takes Luna to Applejack next, and Pinkie Pie ''again'' messes up Luna's attempts to have fun and improve her image. This leads to [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings Luna cancelling Nightmare Night]]... at least until the end of the episode.* "The Mysterious Mare Do Well": Rainbow Dash becomes quite full of herself due to the attention she gets for her heroism. Her friends don't like how she's turning out.\\'''You'd Think:''' They would have at least tried to talk to or reason with Rainbow Dash.\\'''Instead:''' In an attempt to get her to feel what it's like to be full of herself, all five of the remaining Mane Six start [[BerserkButton impersonating Mare Do Well.]]* "Sweet and Elite": Rarity gets caught up in a couple of lies that later come back to bite her.** It starts when Fancy Pants invites Rarity to a private box in the Wonderbolts' Derby. To both of their surprise, she correctly predicts who wins the race. Fancy Pants asks how she knew and she brings up Rainbow Dash. A Canterlot elite then sneers at Rarity and asks who Rainbow Dash is.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rarity to tell the elite that Rainbow Dash is one of her friends who can perform the Sonic Rainboom and together they have (as of this episode) saved Equestria twice. At the very least, she could bring up the time Rainbow Dash [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom saved her own life]].\\'''Instead:''' She says that Rainbow Dash is the Wonderbolts' trainer and doesn't list any of the accomplishments she did. Of course, the elite buys it but that's not the point.** After that, Rarity continues to enjoy her stay in Canterlot, attending numerous gatherings and getting acquainted with the unicorn crowd. However, she not only runs out of time to design a birthday dress for Twilight but also hears about a garden party that will take place on her friend's birthday. After some deliberation, she decides to attend the garden party and prepares to write to Twilight, saying that she will be staying a few extra days.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rarity to be honest, apologize to Twilight for being so busy in Canterlot and perhaps send her a surprise gift as a token of forgiveness.\\'''Instead:''' She makes up an excuse, writing that her cat Opalescence has fallen ill. This backfires on her big time when the rest of her friends decide to visit her in Canterlot to check on Opal and move Twilight's birthday party to Celestia's castle.* "Secret of My Excess":** Spike starts demanding presents from others for his birthday until Twilight finds him and gets told to give them back to everypony.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight would escort Spike to the rightful owners of the "gifts".\\'''Instead:''' She just leaves Spike to do this on his own. This allows him to get more "presents".\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Twilight would wait until Spike got home before going to bed.\\'''Instead:''' She goes to bed before he returns and doesn't know that he brought more stuff back until the next morning, which she then finds out that Spike has [[MagikarpPower grown taller and, soon after, his voice gets deeper]].\\'''You'd ''Then'' Expect:''' Twilight would either use her magic to change Spike back before he gets too big.\\'''Or:''' If that doesn't work, teleport herself and Spike to Princess Celestia for assistance.\\'''Instead:''' She just takes him to a doctor, a veterinarian, and Zecora and only finds out that Spike's greed is causing him to age prematurely, instead of getting both that information and turning him back to normal. Spike soon escapes and tries to steal Scootaloo's scooter.\\'''You'd THEN Expect:''' Twilight, knowing what giving things to Spike would do, would either use her magic to blindfold him and/or to drag him away from the crusaders.\\'''Instead:''' She uses a broom to lure Spike away, [[HulkingOut causing him to get even bigger]]. She then locks Spike into a room in the library.\\'''You'd ''THEN'' Expect:''' Twilight would put a barrier in the room to prevent Spike from escaping.\\'''Instead:''' She doesn't, allowing Spike to escape.** While this is happening, Pinkie Pie gets attacked by Spike when he tries to steal her cakes at Sugarcube Corner.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Pinkie Pie would hide the cakes.\\'''Instead:''' She attacks Spike [[AttackBackfire by throwing cakes at him,]] [[HulkingOut causing him to grow even bigger]]. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job provoking Spike, Pinkie]].* "Hearth's Warming Eve": In the story where the leaders of Unicorns, Pegasus and Earth Ponies is something happen on the cold weather they have to find out what happen.\\'''You'd Expect:''' All three groups will work together like a team.\\'''Instead:''' They will keep arguing and blaming at them who did the winter.\\'''Later:''' All three leaders including assistants is stayed in the cave where it was very cold by the Windigos.\\'''You'd Expect:''' They could better not arguing again and stay together to wait in spring.\\'''Instead:''' [[ArgumentOfContradictions Leaders ''still'' again arguing]] to make the cold worse and been frozen solid.* "The Last Roundup" has an [[TookALevelInJerkass infamous]] one for Rainbow Dash while she and her friends chase a fleeing Applejack from Dodge Junction. In the midst of this, Pinkie Pie tries to talk some sense into Applejack. When that doesn't work, she jumps back in her friends' cart but she knocks Rarity off and they both fall to the ground. Twilight orders Rainbow Dash, who is pulling the cart along with Fluttershy, to turn around.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rainbow Dash, being the Element of Loyalty, to do just that and pick up Pinkie Pie and Rarity before resuming their chase with Applejack.\\'''Instead:''' She tells Twilight, "[[BlatantLies No time!]] [[NeverMyFault They knew what they were getting into!]]" [[ForgottenFallenFriend and they leave the two mares behind!]]* "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" is loaded with these:** It starts when the Apples gear up for cider season and a long line of ponies waits by their stand.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The Apples to limit consumption of their cider to one mug per pony, that way everypony has a fair shot.\\'''Instead:''' Ponies such as Pinkie Pie wind up with upwards of ''twenty mugs'' of cider, leading to quickly depleted barrels and angry thirsty customers.\\'''Then:''' The Flim Flam brothers arrive in town, boasting their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 which turns out to be a big hit with the Ponyville crowd. They approach the Apples and pitch their machine along with a possible partnership. Despite the Flim Flam brothers agreeing to power the machine, they are asking for 75% of the profits.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Both sides to maybe come up with a compromise and not let business get in the way of their customers. The Apples could at least haggle with the Flim Flam brothers who may budge upon hearing Sweet Apple Acres' financial situation.\\'''Instead:''' Big Macintosh immediately refuses the offer and the Flim Flam brothers become competitors in response, hoping to drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business.\\'''It Gets Worse:''' The next day, the Apples run out of cider again and the Flim Flam brothers ''steal their apples in plain sight'' to make more.\\'''So:''' Applejack calls them out on it and the brothers challenge the Apples into a cider-making contest.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The Apples refuse or at the very worst, accept the challenge without any incentives.\\'''Instead:''' Granny Smith [[HonorBeforeReason agrees to the Flim Flam brothers' condition that the winner will be the sole supplier of cider in Ponyville]], without consulting the rest of the family!\\'''Then:''' The contest begins and the Flim Flam brothers don't even break a sweat, making three barrels of cider to the Apples' one. Applejack's friends take notice and Twilight asks Mayor Mare if honorary family members are allowed to help. She isn't sure so she asks the Flim Flam brothers\\'''You'd Expect:''' The brothers to tell Twilight she and her friends can't help since they aren't related to the Apples [[spoiler: Pinkie not withstanding since she didn't know at the time]].\\'''Instead:''' Thinking it's a lost cause, they let Twilight and her friends enter the competition. Soon enough, the Apples and the Mane Six start catching up to the Flim Flam brothers who then get a couple of major stupidity moments.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' The brothers put more manual effort into the competition and inspect their machine to see if it can go any faster.\\'''Instead:''' They program their machine to [[NauseaFuel accept bad apples, twigs and rocks]] into its cider press. [[TheBadGuyWins They wind up winning]] but it comes at a major price considering what they do next.\\'''You'd ''Then'' Expect:''' The brothers to realize they put bad apples into some of the cider barrels and not let anypony taste it. At the very worst, they can dig up the good cider they made before they let Applejack's friends help. Or, given how quickly they were able to make good cider, just reset the machine and start making more.\\'''Instead:''' ''They serve the bad apple cider to the Ponyville crowd!'' Of course, everypony refuses to pay for it and the brothers get chased out of town.* "Read It And Weep": Rainbow Dash forgets her Daring Do book after she is given a clean bill of health. She [[PlayingSick plays sick]] in an attempt to revisit the room but the doctor catches on quickly and the staff ushers her out.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rainbow Dash at this point to tell the hospital staff that she forgot something in the room. It's not like they won't let her search it.\\'''Instead:''' She attempts, and fails, to steal the book from her old room which is not only reoccupied but it results in herself getting chased out of the hospital by the staff. And don't start us on that SpyCatsuit!* "Hearts and Hooves Day": Twilight Sparkle bumps into the Cutie Mark Crusaders while reading a book about the origins of Hearts and Hooves Day. She tells them the holiday began with a love potion which intrigues the CMC since they are trying to play matchmakers with Cherilee and Big Macintosh. Sweetie Belle asks to borrow the book.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight to keep the book away from the crusaders, considering [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E6TheCutiePox what happened the last time one of them misused a potion]].\\'''Instead:''' She gives the book to the CMC and they immediately disappear with it. They use the book to brew a love potion for Cherilee and Big Macintosh.\\'''To Make Matters Worse:''' The crusaders don't realize their potion is actually a love poison until after Cherilee and Big Macintosh drink it!* "Putting Your Hoof Down": After being perceived as too passive by Pinkie Pie and Rarity, Fluttershy enrolls in a self-help course taught by a minotaur named [[MeaningfulName Iron Will]]. She then engages in overly aggressive behavior, [[DisproportionateRetribution beating up Royal Riff who cut her in line for a taxi, chewing on the Mailpony for giving her the wrong mail and then throwing a tourist to kingdom come for making her drop her mail]]. Pinkie Pie and Rarity approach her, expressing concern for the New Fluttershy.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Fluttershy to come to grips, tell her friends she was only tired of being an ExtremeDoormat and start apologizing to everypony she wronged.\\'''Instead:''' She loses her temper and gives Pinkie Pie and Rarity TheReasonYouSuckSpeech on the basis they have no right to tell her how she should live her life. She calls out Pinkie Pie for having a simple mind and accuses Rarity of being petty. Naturally, this upsets Pinkie Pie and Rarity so much that they run away crying. It's only after Fluttershy looks at her reflection in a puddle that she [[HeelRealization realizes]] [[IAmAMonster what she's become]].* In "Dragon Quest", Spike suffers an early bout of depression because he feels disconnected from his roots and has no Dragon friends or family to speak of. Twilight resolves to help him and they try to find out as much as they can about his origins.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight or Spike to write a letter to either Princess Celestia or the Canterlot Magical Academy just asking "Hey, where'd that egg come from and why did you just have one lying around?" Or at the very least look into finding a Dragon specialist. \\'''Instead:''' Spike and Twilight go through every book in Twlight's library and when they find no dragon-related information, Spike decides to join in on a migration of dragons all by himself. * "Ponyville Confidential":** [[PowerTrio The Cutie Mark Crusaders']] are revealed as Gabby Gums.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The girls would try to apologize to them in person, err in pony or at least defend themselves to the others that it was all [[AlphaBitch Diamond Tiara's]] blackmailing them.\\'''Instead:''' They try to get more stories from the pissed off ponies, causing the PowerTrio to be treated like a pariah. [[TheWoobie Poor little fillies...]]** A moment after that, Diamond Tiara blackmails the Cutie Mark Crusaders because they attempted to stop writing hurtful stories.\\'''You'd Expect:''' For The Cutie Mark Crusaders to tell Cherilee what's going on to insure they can quit making hurtful stories.\\'''Instead:''' They don't, and are exposed as Gabby Gums later.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' For Cherilee to realize that things are getting out of hand, with the articles hurting feelings and reputations, and do something about it.\\'''Instead:''' [[AdultsAreUseless She does nothing]], allowing Diamond Tiara to be a KarmaHoudini and keep publishing the paper.\\'''You'd ''Then'' Expect:''' That, once the Crusaders are revealed to be Gabby Gums, for Cherilee to investigate ''why'' were they making such hurtful articles, or at the very least, ask the editor she appointed ''why'' would she allow falsehoods and hurtful things to be published.\\'''Instead:''' She does nothing.\\'''You'd THEN expect:''' For somepony, ''anypony'', to go to Cherilee, or even the paper's editor, and demand an explanation.\\'''Instead:''' [[RuleOfThree They do nothing]], and instead turn the Crusaders into pariahs, and yelling at them or even drenching them with rainwater.* The second season finale, "A Canterlot Wedding", has several "WhatAnIdiot" moments.** In Part 1, Twilight Sparkle goes to see the bride (and her former babysitter) [[BrokenPedestal Princess Cadence]] isn't what she used to be, is acting really rude to her friends and family, and finally discovers something suspicious about her.\\'''You'd Expect:''' She'll gather clues to back her claim just like in "Mmmmystery On The Friendship Express" and go to Shining Armor or -- better yet -- Princess Celestia privately to voice her suspicions and present her evidence, thus preventing any need for a spectacle. Or she could [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech call Princess Cadence out]] [[WhatTheHellHero on how rude she's being]] -- just because it's her wedding there's no reason to act like a SpoiledBrat.\\'''Instead:''' Twilight barges into the throne room during the wedding rehearsal and straight up accuses Princess Cadence of being evil in front of everypony, including Shining Armor and Princess Celestia, driving Princess Cadence out of the room in tears. The result was Shining Armor gave a WhatTheHellHero speech to Twilight, her friends believing that [[ClingyJealousGirl Twilight was jealous]], causing them to shun her, and her mentor became disappointed in her. She thus nearly lost their friendship and respect... [[spoiler:if not for the fact that this Princess Cadence really ''was'' evil, Twilight's lapse in argumentative skills notwithstanding]].** In the same episode, Twilight's friends and family were unaware of why Princess Cadence was acting rude around them.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' They would question themselves on whether or not Twilight is right about Cadence being evil or not when she said that, and would consequently be suspicious of Cadence's behavior. At the very least, they could've given her the benefit of the doubt.\\'''Instead:''' They ''completely'' forget about how much Cadence had been genuinely acting like a jerk to them and straight up ignore Twilight anyway, with Shining Armor calling her out for her accusation. The end result? [[spoiler:A Changeling invasion on Canterlot after Shining Armor's forcefield weakens. Needless to say, in an {{In-Universe}} example, Queen Chrysalis {{Lampshade|Hanging}}s this when she [[JerkassHasAPoint calls out the Mane Six on being too caught up in their wedding plans]].]]** And then there's the fact that Canterlot received a threat.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Celestia to hold off any sort of event, especially a royal wedding, until they can identify the threat, then either send Shining Armor and the guards after it. Or, if the threat is too powerful for the guards to contain on their own, invite Twilight and her friends to take out the threat with the Elements of Harmony.\\'''Instead:''' Celestia decides to hold the wedding anyway, but has the groom constantly cast a shield spell so massive that it's starting to wear on his mental capacity (it's mitigated by the fact that the bride gives him some energy boosts every now and then), increase security to ridiculous degrees (delayed letters and said shield), and then only telling Twilight about the wedding ''the day before it happens'', not mentioning why they had to send it so late. This leads to Twilight looking like a ClingyJealousGirl, which in turn led to the two other idiot moments above. Besides, Shining Armor mentions that Celestia wants him to be completely and utterly focused on protecting the kingdom against outside threat; how on Earth does she expect him to be focused on his job when his wedding- one of the biggest days of his life- is right around the corner? Particularly when one's wedding is at risk of being ruined BY said threat, which would consume Armor's thoughts with worry about how his wedding reception would go down. This is a moment of idiocy on Celestia's part on so many levels...** After being alienated from her mentor, friends, and brother and even possibly had their relationship ruined forever. A [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remorseful]] [[JerkassRealization Twilight]] was spotted by [[spoiler: Imposter Cadence/Queen Chrysalis.]]\\'''You'd Think:''' She would lie to Twilight Sparkle, saying that everypony disowned her. She could drive Twilight into a DespairEventHorizon, and tell her to leave Canterlot at once, or even use this to her advantage and [[MoreThanMindControl convince her]] [[ThenLetMeBeEvil to backstab them]]. Granted, she could have been wary that Twilight might continue her search and find more evidence on her - but at least she could have teleported her somewhere that's ''nowhere near'' [[spoiler: the real Princess Cadence.]]\\'''Instead:''' She plays the VillainBall, reveals her true form and teleports her near the Canterlot Caves, giving Twilight a chance to discover the [[spoiler: the real Princess Cadence.]]** Even before the start with [[spoiler: Chrysalis disguising as Princess Cadence]].\\'''You'd Think:''' that she would act like [[spoiler: the real Princess Cadence]] and or at least explain to Twilight that she's under a lot of stress.\\'''Instead:''' She doesn't bother at all, earning Twilight's suspicions which leads to everything above. Granted, [[spoiler: she probably didn't have time to interrogate the real Cadence nor would the real Cadence would comply.]] But she could've not acted rude! ** In Part 2, Twilight and [[spoiler: the real Cadence]] start making their escape from the Canterlot Caves.\\'''You'd Also Think:''' [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] would have brainwashed some of Shining Armor's high-ranking guards just to ensure that Twilight and [[spoiler: Cadence]] have no chance of getting out of there.\\'''Instead:''' She leaves the cave guarded by ''bridesmaids''. Twilight proves their incompetence by tossing a bouquet at them which they promptly fight over.** Later on in Part 2, the Changelings successfully apprehend Twilight and her friends from getting to the Elements of Harmony. They are then brought to the Changeling queen, [[spoiler: Chrysalis]].\\'''You'd Think:''' [[spoiler: Queen Chrysalis]] would imprison Twilight and her friends in a cocoon just like Celestia, so that she would not able to free Cadence from the cocoon goop and break the mind control spell on Shining Armor. [[TheBadGuyWins And then]] [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] [[TheBadGuyWins would win.]] [[DownerEnding The End.]]\\'''Instead:''' [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] doesn't even bother trying to imprison Twilight, and she gets caught up in her VillainSong reprisal, allowing Twilight to free Cadence and have her be able to break the mind control spell on Shining Armor, and eventually Cadence and Shining Armor get [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] and her Changelings blasting off again!** And the above moment where [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] lets Twilight [[spoiler: free Cadence]] leads to even more idiocy, as [[spoiler: Cadence then cures Shining Armor, and uses her love to power his spell]].\\'''You'd Think:''' [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] would realize that since [[spoiler: Shining Armor's love]] was able to give her enough power to defeat [[spoiler: [[PhysicalGod Celestia]],]] she'd try to stop them, imprison all the ponies, and then conquer Equestria unhindered.\\'''Instead:''' She says "What a lovely but ridiculous sentiment." What do you know, ThePowerOfLove wins.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 3]]* "Too Many Pinkie Pies": Pinkie Pie has brought numerous clones of herself from the Mirror Pool. The clones are clearly more hyperactive with the original [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone deeply regretting ever bringing them to Ponyville]].\\'''You'd Expect:''' The rest of the Mane Six to catch on and figure out that the real Pinkie Pie is not behaving like the others.\\'''Or:''' Since none of the clones have the memory of the real Pinkie Pie, they can ward off any impostors by quizzing them on Pinkie's childhood.\\'''Instead:''' Neither of them can tell the real Pinkie Pie from the others so they hold a [[LuckBasedMission Watching Paint Dry contest]] with the clones. [[spoiler: One that just happened to be the real Pinkie Pie's idea, even.]]* "One Bad Apple":** This episode introduces Babs Seed, a cousin of the Apples whom unbeknownst to Apple Bloom [[spoiler: is being bullied in her hometown of Manehattan for not having a cutie mark]].\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to tell the Cutie Mark Crusaders about this so they can be more accommodating to Babs.\\'''Instead:''' She doesn't for fear that Babs will feel singled out. This causes the CMC, who are obsessed with getting their cutie marks, to immediately start pestering Babs about her blank flank from the get go. Babs becomes so uncomfortable with this that she finds solace with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and the three gang up on the Crusaders.** Sweetie Belle wants to tell Applejack about Babs' bullying, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo don't want to for fear of being marked as [[TheStoolPigeon snitches]].\\'''You'd Think:''' Sweetie Belle would tell Applejack anyway. Or at least tell Rarity so she can speak to Applejack about it.\\'''Instead:''' She just follows Apple Bloom's lead and things go downhill from there.** The Cutie Mark Crusaders eventually withdraw their plans for revenge when [[spoiler: Applejack tells them about Babs' bullying problems at home]]. They attempt do this by pulling close to Babs' float with one driven by Pinkie Pie. Before they can warn her, Babs rams into Pinkie Pie's float which crashes.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Pinkie Pie, who is now a witness and a victim to Babs' bullying, to ask why she would do such a thing. At the very worst, she could warn Applejack and her friends at once about Babs.\\'''Instead:''' [[AdultsAreUseless She does nothing, leaving the CMC to stop Babs on their own]].** Ultimately, [[spoiler: the [=CMC=] save Babs from the sabotaged parade float and the group make amends.]] Applejack then leads the [=CMC=] to the train station so they can bid farewell to Babs. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon show up.\\'''You'd Expect:''' With the presence of Applejack that Diamond and Silver would stay out of the picture.\\'''Instead:''' Upset with Babs leaving, Diamond starts teasing the [=CMC=]. Surprisingly, [[spoiler: ''Babs'' is the one who calls her out on it and threatens to [[DontTellMama tell her mother and Silver Spoon's if their teasing continues]].]]** In that same scenario...\\'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler: Applejack]] to be the one telling them off, especially after the [=CMC=] had experienced enough bullying as it is.\\'''Instead:''' She stands there not doing a single thing except glare.* "Just for Sidekicks":** Spike has a repeated moment that pretty much sets up the plot. In the beginning, Spike has gathered a bucket of gems in preparation for a cake.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike to keep the gems in a safe place or have Twilight hide them so he won't be tempted to eat them while mixing the ingredients.\\'''Instead:''' He leaves them out in the open and, not surprisingly, munches on them as he's preparing the batter. By the time he's ready to bake the cake, he's run out of gems.\\'''To Make Matters Worse:''' By the end of the episode, Spike is down to half a gem but he eats it just as he's ready to bake the cake again!** Spike, the pets and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are in the Crystal Empire and have to get back to Ponyville before the Mane Six discover that they're missing. Spike stops a fidgeting Angel from seeing Fluttershy when he causes a distraction with a luggage cart.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike and the Crusaders to lay low with the pets until the Mane Six get on the train before hopping onto another car.\\'''Instead:''' Spike drags Angel onto the train first with the Crusaders and the pets following. They all have to hide beneath the seats when the Mane Six step into their car. They escape detection by the skin of their teeth when Winona's barking, Angel threatening to kick Applejack's seat and Spike's GrowlingGut threaten to blow their cover.** On the other side of the coin, Applejack gets one when Spike tries to quiet down Winona's barking.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to recognize her own dog and check below her seat, catching Spike and the other stowaways in the process.\\'''Instead:''' She ignores Winona and gets so excited about going home that she only says, "Whoo-wee! My dogs are barkin'! Did ya'll hear that, they really are!"* "Games Ponies Play":** The Mane 6 are sent to greet the Equestrian Games Inspector. They don't have much of a physical description aside from her luggage. They find somepony matching that incredibly vague description.\\'''You'd Think:''' They'd at least greet her by her name.\\'''Instead:''' They don't, and spend the entire episode touring with some random mare. It's only by DeusExMachina that the games inspector didn't get fed up by the random splashings and went to the exact same spa and talked to the same pony who got the greeting she was supposed to get that she based her decision to let the Equestria Games be there that year.** One of the Crystal Empire attendants gives a description of the Equestrian Games Inspector.\\'''You'd Think:''' In addition to name, they'd have a semi-detailed and useful description, like pony race, fur color, and Cutie Mark.\\'''Instead:''' They get a name and the description of her luggage. That's it. The first mare they see with that luggage, they immediately assume she's the Games Inspector.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 4]]* In Part 2 of "Princess Twilight Sparkle", the Mane Six are in the Everfree Forest in search of the Tree of Harmony. Twilight's new wings prevent her from escaping from a cragadile so her friends step in and save her. Applejack suggests that Twilight go back to Ponyville because with Celestia and Luna gone and with Princess Cadence in the Crystal Empire, she is too important for Equestria to lose.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight and her friends to ignore Applejack's request because she along with the rest of the Mane Six are bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Also, they will need her magic and knowledge to save the Tree of Harmony no matter the cost.\\'''Instead:''' The rest of the Mane Six agree with Applejack on the sole purpose that they need Twilight to rule as Equestria's last remaining princess. Twilight doesn't realize her importance to the quest until Discord talks some sense into her. The rest of the Mane Six only see how much they need Twilight when they can't restore the tree without her help.* "Castle Mane-ia": Rainbow Dash and Applejack try to prove their courage by spending the night in the Castle of the Two Sisters which they believe is haunted. Also, Rarity hears about the castle's tapestries and plans on taking them to her shop where she can restore them to their former glory.\\'''You'd Expect:''' All three ponies to come to Twilight first and make sure what they're doing is safe. Ignoring the rumors that the castle could be haunted, it's over 1,000 years old and is likely falling apart. Plus as we saw in the previous episode, Twilight witnessed the castle being partially destroyed the night Celestia banished her sister to the moon. They could have Celestia send Twilight some general floor plans and warn them of any potential booby traps. At the very worst in Rarity's case, she can maybe inspect the tapestries in the daytime.\\'''Instead:''' They do no such thing and head for the potentially dangerous castle just after sundown. Fluttershy, who comes along with Rarity, lampshades this to her before they even get there.* In "Flight to the Finish", Rainbow Dash is warned to be "professional" and "collected".\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rainbow Dash to figure out that this means she has to act mature and responsible.\\'''Instead:''' She decides to ''[[BerserkButton imitate Harshwhinny's]]'' strict demeanor.* In "Power Ponies", the Mane-iac just froze and captured the ponies, leaving just Spike left.\\'''You'd Think:''' That the Mane-iac would also freeze and capture Spike, just in the off chance he does manage to turn the fight around. Even though he doesn't have any super powers, he almost managed to steal the source of her secret weapon that would've defeated the Power Ponies for good.\\'''Instead:''' She lets him go, thinking that he's powerless, and soon [[NiceJobFixingItVillain has to suffer the consequences]].* "Rarity Takes Manehattan":** Rarity realizes that she only has ten minutes to get to the fashion show auditions. The show is being held across town, and both Rarity and her dress line need to be there on time, or she'll be disqualified. The dialogue throughout the scene indicates that it is currently rush hour in Manehattan.\\'''You'd Think:''' Somepony would remember that Twilight Sparkle can teleport over long distances at will if she doesn't feel like [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections pulling rank]] and Rainbow Dash can reach light-shattering flight speeds from a standstill on demand. Either one of them could get Rarity and her line to the fashion show within seconds, giving Rarity a few minutes to regain her composure before entering.\\'''Instead:''' They waste time trying to get a taxi for her, and then send the bellhop from an earlier scene to deliver the dresses. Rarity makes it into the audition and escapes losing her spot in the contest by the skin of her teeth.** After the audition, Rarity meets a fellow seamstress who takes an interest in Rarity's entry.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rarity to keep her trade secrets to herself, especially when she's using them to compete with other ponies present and within earshot.\\'''Instead:''' She gushes in detail over her hard work, shows off the special fabric she's counting on to win the contest, and then lends the entire roll she brought with her to Suri. This gives Suri enough of the fabric to perfectly replicate Rarity’s entry overnight. When Rarity tries to confront her, Suri blackmails her to keep her from reporting her plagiarism to the judges.** Later on, Rarity is distraught after her original entry was plagiarized. Suddenly, she hits upon an idea for an impromptu replacement. The Mane Six then go to work, but soon realize that helping Rarity will jeopardize their plans to see ''Hinny In The Hills''.\\'''You'd Expect:''' For them to shrug it off and keep working. Rarity is already under pressure and on a hair-trigger temper, and three of the Mane Six have connections to get them a later showing.\\'''Instead:''' They complain, and Rarity [[RageBreakingPoint goes nuclear on them.]]* "Pinkie Apple Pie":** The Apples and Pinkie Pie wonder if they're related by setting off on a trip to visit Goldie Delicious. They put Big Macintosh in charge of loading the wagon.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Big Macintosh to pack only the essentials for their trip since it's implied that Goldie doesn't live too far from Ponyville.\\'''Instead:''' He [[CrazyPrepared overloads the wagon]] and insists to Applejack that it's strong enough to hold their belongings. Just after they reach the halfway point, the wheels break off.** So the Apples build a makeshift raft out of their wagon and ride it down a river. Eventually, the group comes across a three-way fork and Applejack asks for the map so she can figure out which way to take. Apple Bloom comes up with it.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Apple Bloom to give Applejack the map.\\'''Instead:''' In her exuberance for finding the map, she carelessly tosses it around until she accidentally drops it overboard. With the group now without a way to tell where they are headed, Applejack [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this to Apple Bloom.-->"All you had to do was bring it to me. No singin', no dancin', no games. Just walk it over!" * In "Somepony to Watch Over Me", Apple Bloom becomes fed up with Applejack's babying. She has Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo take her place while she sneaks out of her house to fulfill Applejack's order on her own. Applejack walks to Apple Bloom's room to check on her.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to immediately recognize Sweetie Belle in Apple Bloom's bed just by looking at her. Sweetie Belle has a pink and purple mane and a white coat while Apple Bloom has a red mane and a yellow coat.\\'''Instead:''' She doesn't realize that Sweetie Belle has taken Apple Bloom's place until Scootaloo accidentally blows their cover. This after it was implied that Applejack apparently checked the bed ''over a hundred times!''* "Leap of Faith" has even more stupidity from the Apples and the Film Flam brothers.** It starts when Flim and Flam come to Ponyville again and promote their miracle tonic. They test it out on a volunteer in the audience who gains his strength back. Then, Granny Smith buys some and it cures her fear of drowning. A suspicious Applejack checks out the Film Flam brothers' tent where the volunteer, Silver Shill, is revealed to be an actor. The brothers then inadvertently reveal that their tonic is nothing more than apple juice and beet leaves.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to tell Granny Smith at once that their miracle tonic is a fake before she gets injured trying to pull off something dangerous.\\'''Instead:''' Applejack, not wanting to hurt Granny Smith's feelings, buys into their lie that Granny Smith has never felt younger, and doesn't tell her about the fake tonic.\\'''Later On:''' Flim and Flam continue to promote their tonic at the Ponyville Swim Meet.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The brothers to leave Applejack and Silver Shill out of their plans. Applejack now knows the truth about their product and bringing Silver Shill could make the townsponies even more suspicious.\\'''Instead:''' They hire both of them to pitch the tonic with Silver Shill continuing to demonstrate it and Applejack hesitantly rattling off its benefits. Applejack already knows how bad of an idea it is but then she sees Granny Smith about to perform a risky high-diving jump. She rushes off to lasso her from the platform just in time and confronts the brothers.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Flim and Flam to open up about their tonic, saying that it has its limits and that ponies shouldn't try doing anything extreme after trying some. At the very worst, they might lose some customers but others would figure out that the tonic can't do everything they say it can, therefore stopping them from trying ridiculous stunts.\\'''Instead:''' They egg Granny Smith on and tell her she could have made that jump, despite somepony of Granny's structure clearly not being able to do so safely.\\'''Eventually:''' This causes Applejack to announce that the brothers' tonic is a fake.\\'''You'd ''Then'' Expect:''' Flim and Flam to drop the act on their product at once.\\'''Instead:''' They try to defend their tonic by saying it boosts confidence. Just like last time, the brothers have to skip town. * "Inspiration Manifestation":** The beginning of the episode has Rarity building a puppet show theater for the Ponyville Foal and Filly Fair.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rarity to design her theater for the puppeteer in mind, provided that she has a description of what he looks like and the kinds of puppets the he uses for his show.\\'''You'd Also Expect:''' The puppeteer to take a look through Rarity's [[PimpedOutDress usual line of work]] which will give himself an idea of what he could expect. Also, he can tell her what kind of show he plans to use so she can design the theater accordingly.\\'''Instead:''' Rarity's first design is entirely based on form over function and is too small to accommodate the puppeteer's size. Also, the puppeteer apparently doesn't give Rarity any more of a description than "traveling puppet theater", leading to Rarity carrying her usual style over to the structure.** Spike takes a spell book out of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters to inspire Rarity, despite all of the warning signs and being told by Owlicious not to do so.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike to listen to the owl and think of a way to inspire Rarity without using magic or maybe bring the book to Twilight first to make sure what he's doing is safe.\\'''Instead:''' He ignores the owl's pleas and takes it directly to Rarity.\\'''So:''' Spike shows her the "Inspiration Manifestation" spell.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' That Rarity, even in her creative funk, would be suspicious of said spell and think for a moment that Spike's attempt to get her back in the swing of things could have serious consequences.\\'''Instead:''' She casts the spell and proceeds to wreak havoc in Ponyville.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' During Rarity's earlier attempts to "improve" Ponyville, for Spike to point out just how impractical some of Rarity's improvements (i.e. giving Rainbow Dash a dress that prevents her from doing her job handling the weather; fancying a party that's clearly intended for children) are, thus freeing Rarity from the spell before things get too out of hand.\\'''Instead:''' Spike puts his feelings for Rarity over the flaws in her works and doesn't finally give her the much-needed criticism until ''after'' she made a complete mess of Ponyville (to the point that it took three princesses to clean it up) and plotted to do the same in other cities.* "Equstria Games":** Spike has been tasked with lighting the Equestria Games torch after saving the Crystal Empire from King Sombra. Ms. Harshwhinny accompanies him but he gets stage fright upon seeing the tens of thousands of ponies gathered to see the event.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Ms. Harshwhinny to be supportive of Spike and either ask him what's wrong or give him some encouragement.\\'''Instead:''' [[NoSympathy She becomes impatient with Spike and yells at him to light the torch when he's clearly too jumpy to do so]]. Spike becomes unable to breathe fire out of nervousness so Twilight lights the torch instead. When she tells her that she did it for him, Spike's confidence deflates in a heartbeat.** Later on, Spike tries to make up for his [[StealthPun flame-out]] by singing an anthem after one of the events. He rushes off to tell Shining Armor.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Shining Armor to inform Spike before he volunteers that the winner of the event, Cloudsdale, has their anthem sung. This would give Spike the chance to back out since he doesn't know the words.\\'''Instead:''' He doesn't say this until after he announces to the crowd that Spike will perform the Cloudsdale anthem.\\'''The Result''': Spike is forced to improvise lyrics and [[DudeNotFunny gets several glares from the ponies in the stands]].* "Twilight's Kingdom"** In Part 1, Tirek has escaped from Tartarus and Celestia sends Discord to catch him. Discord can sense the magical imbalance that comes when Tirek steals a pony's magic.\\'''You'd Think:''' She'd also send somepony more trustworthy to accompany him, like [[MoralityPet Fluttershy]]. After all, despite claiming to have been reformed, he's been shown to still be pretty amoral and hard to control.\\'''Instead:''' She sends him alone. While he does catch Tirek easily, [[spoiler: it only takes a quick talk to bring on a FaceHeelTurn.]]** Later, in Part 2, Tirek has grown in power and the princesses decide to transfer their magic into Twilight to stop him from getting it.\\'''You'd Think:''' Celestia would tell Twilight to go into hiding and take her friends with her until she decides what to do. After all, Tirek can find out about Twilight from [[spoiler:Discord]], and even without that Tirek's hunting down all ponies anyway.\\'''Instead:''' Not only does Celestia not instruct Twilight to do this, she forbids her from even telling her friends anything's wrong, banking entirely on Tirek not knowing who Twilight is, despite the points mentioned above. Predictably, [[spoiler: Tirek captures Twilight's friends within minutes of learning of their existence, and uses them as a bargaining chip when it looks like Twilight can beat him.]]\\'''Even Worse:''' Even without those factors, the Princesses do nothing about the giant stained glass window of Twilight's coronation in the throne room where they are literally waiting to be caught, even though their entire plan revolves around Tirek not knowing that a fourth princess exists.\\'''Also:''' When you consider that Twilight with the power of four alicorns can was able to fight Tirek to a stalemate (and this was after [[spoiler: he's fueled with the powers of the Ponyville ponies and Discord]]), you'd think a better plan would have involved her confronting him in a surprise attack while he's busy attempting to drain the others of their magic. After all, Tirek wouldn't be as powerful as he was when he actually did confront Twilight at that point.\\'''Later''': Twilight and Tirek have their climatic showdown against each other. When it's obvious the two are evenly matched, Tirek decides to use her friends and Discord as hostages, and agrees to let them go if she surrenders her powers to him (to which she agrees).\\'''You'd Expect''': For Tirek to immediately go back on his word, and either keep Twilight's friends as leverage, or capture Twilight in the same bubble prison her friends are in. Even if Twilight and every other pony is powerless to stop him, no sense in letting a potential threat and powerful enemy loose, right?\\'''Instead''': Tirek keeps his word; he absorbs Twilight's powers, and he releases his hostages.\\'''The Result''': This allows Discord to give Twilight the final key to the chest at the Tree of Harmony, awakening greater powers, and defeating Tirek once and for all.\\'''Even Worse:''' After releasing Twilight's friends, Tirek has plenty of time to crush them like bugs, but doesn't bother with it.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 5]]* "The Cutie Map - Part 2":** Starlight Glimmer tears off the Mane Six's cutie marks and subjects them to brainwashing.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That since the Mane Six came all at once as a team, Starlight would separate them into different buildings so they wouldn't plot to go against her.\\'''Instead:''' She keeps them all in the same room, causing them to come up with a plan to duck the brainwashing and reveal her intentions through Fluttershy.** Later on, Starlight Glimmer has just been exposed as a {{Hypocrite}} by Fluttershy, showing she still has her original cutie mark when she'd been taking everypony else's away in the name of equality. The townspeople are distraught, and demand an explanation from Starlight.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That Starlight would say she needs her magic to take the cutie marks away (which is true), while also professing that she's trying to follow the philosophy she created. Even if Starlight has to keep her cutie mark, she's still showing a bond with the villagers by painting an equal sign over her cutie mark with make-up. Starlight could also recite the fact that the town has been perfectly peaceful since they accepted her way.\\'''Instead:''' Starlight immediately calls the townspeople [[YouFool fools]] and berates them all in a MotiveRant [[NoIndoorVoice at the top of her lungs]]. And when one of them makes a snide remark, Starlight's horn glows, obviously preparing to attack him. Though Starlight manages to interrupt Twilight's KirkSummation with a BigShutUp, the townspeople turn on Starlight, and her entire scheme crumbles.* "Castle Sweet Castle":** Twilight has been working herself to the point of exhaustion to avoid having to go home to her castle, which simply doesn't feel like home to her. The rest of the Mane 6 offer to make it feel more like home, and send Spike to take Twilight to the spa to keep her busy. When he returns early, the others have done a terrible job and ask him to keep Twilight occupied until sunset.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike to simply explain to Twilight that the redecoration is taking longer than expected and that her friends have requested until sunset to finish up.\\'''Instead:''' He makes up random things to do to waste time. This results in him being forced to endure a massage from [[TestosteronePoisoning Bulk Biceps]] and drive himself insane [[ItMakesSenseInContext shopping for a new bed]].** Then there's the rest of Mane 6 and their attempts to decorate the castle.\\'''You'd Expect:''' They'd keep in mind Twilight's old home at Golden Oak Library right from the get go and use their memories of it to help them with the re-decoration.\\'''Instead:''' The Mane 6 not only decorate the castle based on ''their own preference'' of what a perfect home for them would be like, but they also [[TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup focus their re-decorating on just the Mane Hall]] (i. e. the one with the "Cutie Map"). They do eventually learn from their mistakes (and compromise on their personal decoration preferences by adding small touches to the other rooms while having the Mane Room focus on one big memorial piece using the roots of the library), but still, after four seasons of knowing Twilight, you'd think they'd know better than that when it came to their initial re-decoration attempt.* In "Tanks for the Memories", Rainbow Dash sneaks into the weather factory with Tank in an effort to stop winter from coming to Ponyville. She finds the water-making machine and figures she can drain its clouds before it can bring Ponyville any snow. The only thing stopping her from doing so is Tank's sleepiness which is causing erratic flight.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rainbow Dash to try to ground Tank to a secure place so she can carry out her plan without him interfering.\\'''Instead:''' She ties Tank to a magnifying glass which easily breaks off while she's tampering the machines. The glass lodges into a fan and triggers a chain reaction of chaos in the factory. Rainbow Dash and Tank eventually get sucked into a [[GoneHorriblyRight giant snowball which crashes into Ponyville]].* "Appleoosa's Most Wanted":** The town is threatened by Troubleshoes, a perceived outlaw who has gained notoriety for ruining rodeos. Despite the scare, Sheriff Silverstar announces the rodeo will go on as planned, albeit with heightened security. This worries Applejack who is competing in place of an injured Braeburn. Since [[AdultFear the Cutie Mark Crusaders have accompanied her to Appleoosa]], she considers dropping out of the rodeo and sending them back to Ponyville. Braeburn convinces her that things will be fine and offers to watch over the CMC.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Applejack to ignore Braeburn's request and go with her plan to take the Cutie Mark Crusaders back home. If she wanted them to stay in Appleoosa, she could keep a close eye on them herself. Not only does Braeburn have zero babysitting experience, the Crusaders are prone to wandering off which Applejack scolded them for earlier in the episode. Above all, he has previously injured his foreleg and needs his rest.\\'''Instead:''' She allows Braeburn to gain the upper hand in their argument and the Crusaders are left in his care. Braeburn turns out to be a pushover and the Crusaders wait until after he falls asleep to sneak out.** Later on, Troubleshoes is arrested and the Crusaders attempt to bust him out with Sheriff Silverstar on patrol. Apple Bloom calls to him that he's missing the bale stacking event at the rodeo.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The sheriff to find somepony to watch Troubleshoes' cell while he leaves to watch the event.\\'''Instead:''' He doesn't and with nopony guarding the cell, the Crusaders free Troubleshoes.* "Princess Spike":** Canterlot hosts the Grand Equestrian Pony Summit where delegates are invited from cities all across Equestria. Two major decisions regarding the planning later turn it into disaster, starting with the landscaping.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The ponies in charge to have the water main fixed and to have the [[PlotAllergy dragonsneeze trees]] trimmed well before the summit begins.\\'''Instead:''' They choose to have both of these jobs done ''the day of the summit'' which doesn't bode well for the workers when Spike orders them to be cancelled.\\'''Also:''' There's the actual planning of the summit.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The princesses to share duties for the planning, lest they risk somepony getting overworked.\\'''Instead:''' Twilight gets saddled with all the work and doesn't get a wink of sleep for three days. She becomes too exhausted to perform any duties for the summit's events and decides to sleep it off.\\'''So:''' Twilight tasks Spike with keeping the bedroom quiet while she sleeps.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike to close the window which he realizes is open once a bird flies in. If any commotion outside becomes too much for Twilight, he can invest in a pair of earmuffs.\\'''Instead:''' He feels the need to cancel a polo game, interrupt a groundskeeper from trimming dragonsneeze trees and stop another pony from fixing a water main that's ready to burst.\\'''What Makes It Worse:''' This becomes more glaring when it turns out that two episodes later in "Amending Fences", Twilight can conjure a sound-proof shield with her magic, therefore providing another reason for Spike not to demand peace and quiet from other ponies.** Also, there's the matter of Spike's shoddy advice to the delegates who wish to see Twilight.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight or one of the other princesses to give Spike more specific instructions about what to do if somepony wanted to see Twilight, such as have him redirect the ponies to one of the other princesses.\\'''Or:''' For either of the princesses to post guards outside of Twilight's room rather than have Spike watch over her.\\'''Instead:''' Nothing of the sort happens and Spike "helps" everypony on his own merits, claiming they're by order of Princess Twilight. Cadence becomes suspicious of Spike's executive actions but she isn't confirmed until a freak accident involving the dragonsneeze trees and the water main causes the main hall to flood.** Then there's Spike who gears up a sneeze thanks to coming in contact with dragonsneeze flowers. He happens to be standing right next to a giant statue made of gems provided by Equestria's delegates.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Spike to either turn or run away from the statue before sneezing.\\'''Instead:''' He stays put and sneezes ''directly on the statue'', causing it to break apart.\\'''To Make Matters Worse:''' Spike is given a bouquet of dragonsneeze flowers as a present for helping rebuild the statue. Just as the episode ends, he's ready to sneeze on the statue again.* "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?": Luna recruits the Mane Six in their help into fighting Tantabus, a monster who turns dreams into nightmares. ** Luna actually created Tantabus to remind herself why she can never be forgiven, night after night. It makes her remember Nightmare Moon, and how she hurt ponies.\\'''You'd Expect''': Luna to tell the six immediately where the Tantabus came from: her own guilt and need to punish. Since it's her responsibility, they ought to know exactly what they're confronting. It's revealed that if the Mane Six had helped her with the baggage earlier, the Tantabus wouldn't have gotten so powerful.\\'''Instead''': Luna insists that she fight the Tantabusin the Mane Six's dreams, without addressing her baggage directly, and keeps saying she doesn't want to cause more harm. She only reveals its origins at the climax of the episode, when the Mane Six realize that her guilt makes it bigger and stronger, and it nearly enters the waking world.** Tantabus can only spread into other ponies' dreams if Luna and the Mane Six dream about other ponies.\\'''You'd Think:''' The Mane Six would do their best to contain Tantabus and not involve any other ponies in their dreams.\\'''Instead:''' Pinkie Pie dreams of [[NiceJobBreakingItHero sharing ice cream with all of Ponyville]] and [[FromBadToWorse the entire town is dragged into fighting Tantabus]]!* "Canterlot Boutique"** Rarity decides to open a new shop in Canterlot when the location she desires becomes available. Since she obviously can't be in two shops at once, she hires a manager who can run the shop when she's at her home base in Ponyville. She goes with Sassy, a pony with an impressive resume. Rarity likes to make specialty dresses, ideally new ones for each pony though she is willing to do multiple orders of the same design.\\'''You'd Expect''': That she and Sassy during the interview would discuss these matters, and Rarity would instruct her in the rules of Rarity, about making each dress special.\\'''Instead''': Apparently this never comes up. Rarity then gets blindsided when Sassy makes a number of changes without her consent, like renaming the boutique and the "Reign in Stain" dress. The only reason Rarity doesn't fire Sassy for insubordination is that she is generous and technically Sassy's ideas are working.** As for Sassy, she's managed dozens of boutiques, though it's implied that her ControlFreak personality caused them to close down. Still, she is good at her job of drumming up business.\\'''You'd Expect''': That with Rarity as her boss that Sassy would defer to her, rather than the other way around. Also you would expect that she talk with her about executive decisions before springing them onto the public.\\'''Instead''': Sassy micromanages the "Canterlot Carousel," as she renames it, and changes multiple things ''the day that it opens''. It gets to the point that she takes hundreds of dress orders for the "Princess Dress" that she's pushing, browbeats Rarity about filling them, points out that the customers don't want her specialized items, and eventually claims that it's "her" boutique. Rarity gets burned out from making hundreds of the same dress at once and nearly closes the shop. * In "Rarity Investigates!", Wind Rider concocts a plan to have Rainbow Dash banned from the Wonderbolts so he can keep his long-distance speed record unbroken. One of his steps involves buying a cake to distract the Royal Guards. However, his scarf gets stained with some chocolate icing on the cake.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Wind Rider to replace his scarf, which now contains incriminating evidence. In the very least, finding that stained scarf would have taken up valuable time and his discharge would have come at a cost.\\'''Instead:''' He ties the scarf in a windsor knot and Rarity discovers it immediately while she cracks the clues. Wind Rider is discharged from the Wonderbolts for framing Rainbow Dash.* In "Brotherhooves Social", Applejack has to miss participating in Sisterhooves Social and Apple Bloom is left devastated. Big Macintosh hears Granny Smith telling her that it shouldn't matter who her partner is as long as they both represent the spirit of the social.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Big Macintosh to check with the higher-ups and see if there is a rule about stallions participating in Sisterhooves Social. It wouldn't hurt to ask, considering Granny Smith never said Apple Bloom's participant explicitly has to be female.\\'''Instead:''' He goes through the trouble of [[WholesomeCrossdresser dressing in drag and a wig]] and calling himself "Orchard Blossom" just so he can participate with Apple Bloom. This leads to another moment when the judges let him participate as such.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Somepony, whether it be the judges, Granny Smith, or an organizer, to pull Big Macintosh aside. They can explain that he doesn't have to compete as "Orchard Blossom", all while telling him he should just have fun with Apple Bloom instead of playing to win.\\'''Instead:''' Nopony does any such thing and Big Macintosh gets so hell-bent on winning the final race that he becomes a clear and present danger to Apple Bloom and the other teams. The judges don't even point this out until his unsportsmanlike conduct causes their disqualification, therefore putting the safety of his competitors at risk.* "Crusaders of the Lost Mark":** Spoiled Rich scolds Diamond Tiara for hanging out with the CMC and insults them in front of the entire school by calling them "Blank Flanks" and "confused, insignificant low lifes" in front of the students and more importantly, Cheerilee.\\'''You’d Expect:''' For Cheerilee to scold Spoiled Rich and even report her to the higher ups (Even if she has connections, there are ''others'' on the school board too).\\'''Instead:''' [[AdultsAreUseless She does nothing]], ''[[CallBack again]]!''** Also, Spoiled Rich seems to be primarily motivated by a desire to reach and stay on the summit of the social ladder. Whether you think this goal is understandable or idiotic in and of itself...\\'''You'd Think:''' She would be encouraging her daughter to suck up to the three fillies who are students of the local princess and have older sisters (by blood or unofficial adoption) with thrones of their own in the castle of said princess.\\'''Instead:''' She tells her daughter to shun the CMC and insults them in public.* In the episode "What About Discord?", Twilight misses out on a weekend of fun with her friends and Discord. They share an inside joke with one-another, to which Twilight has trouble understanding why they'd think it's funny (all the while secretly stewing on how she missed out). She begins to suspect that Discord somehow brainwashed them into thinking they had fun when they really didn't, so she gets a potion from Zecora to break whatever spell has been cast on the others.\\'''You’d Expect:''' For Twilight to keep quiet about her intentions with her friends, and just serve them the potion (without saying it's a potion) to see if it has any effect on them.\\'''Instead:''' She outright states that she believes the others are under Discord's spell, and that the potion is supposed to break them out of it. This causes the others to [[WhatTheHellHero call her out]] on accusing Discord of being evil and them of not being able to see if he was up to any wrongdoing.* In "The Hooffields and [=McColts=]", Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy have been called to settle a conflict between the eponymous fighting families. Fluttershy suggests that they get one side to apologize so they go to Ma Hooffield, the Hooffields' matriarch, and the clan bakes large cake for the [=McColts=].\\'''You’d Expect:''' Twilight and Fluttershy to be a bit suspicious about this since the cake is so large that several ponies can easily fit inside. Even while bringing the cake over, it's implied that Ma Hooffield didn't listen to a word Twilight said about forgiving her enemies.\\'''Instead:''' They help Ma Hooffield bring the cake over to the [=McColts=] anyway. When it seems the [=McColts=] are ready to start anew, the Hooffields [[JumpingOutOfACake burst out of the cake]] and attack them, setting off the brunt of the conflict.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 6]]* "The Crystalling": The Mane Six, the princesses and Shining Armor are preparing the Crystal Empire for Flurry Heart's Crystalling. At the end of Part 1, Flurry Heart's SneezeOfDoom has shattered the Crystal Heart and triggered a wave of ice and snow towards the Crystal Empire. The princesses make it clear at the beginning of Part 2 that anypony inside the Crystal Empire at the moment will be frozen solid if they don't act fast.\\'''You’d Expect:''' The group to warn everypony about the impending danger immediately and split duties between evacuating the empire as soon as possible and looking for a spell that can put the Crystal Heart back together.\\'''Instead:''' They decide not let the public know about the Crystal Heart and tell the residents to ''hide indoors'' for fear that it will cause a panic. When Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack explain this to the waiting ponies, they are accused of stalling the ceremony and are not taken seriously.* In "The Gift of the Maud Pie", after Pinkie learns that the the store containing the rock bag she wanted to get for Maud is closed due to the owner being on vacation, Rarity eventually informs Pinkie that she saw another pony with the same bag design as the one Pinkie wanted to get.\\'''You'd Expect''': For Pinkie to let Rarity finish what she was going to say, which was likely going to be about where he got the bag, with Pinkie then hopefully getting information on another store (one that is open) that has the bag for sale.\\'''Instead''': Pinkie doesn't let Rarity finish her statement, rushes to confront the pony with the bag, and asks if she can buy it for him, with the pony, being the hustler that he is, willing to give it to her... in exchange for her beloved Party Cannon.* In "Newbie Dash", Rainbow Dash makes a terrible first impression on the Wonderbolts by nearly getting ran over on the runway and crashing into a trash can. The Wonderbolts give her the EmbarrassingNickname "Rainbow Crash" as a result, but the name brings back bad memories of her time in flight school, thus it harms her performance.\\'''You'd Expect''': For Rainbow Dash to open up and let her new wingmates know that the name has some bad connections to her past and to cut it out -- the Wonderbolts look up to Rainbow Dash as much as she does them, so they could easily understand. Conversely, the Wonderbolts could realize something was wrong and let Rainbow Dash know what's up. Even more, the Mane Six tell Rainbow Dash to treat the Wonderbolts like how they treat each other, like a team of friends.\\'''Instead''': Rainbow Dash's pride gets the better of her and she decides the best way to fix this is to ''force'' a new nickname. Her stunts confuse and anger her new wingmates and puts them in danger before Rainbow Dash finally speaks up. She's still punished for her actions, however.* In "Saddle Row and Rec", Rarity opens her new store in Manehattan.\\'''You'd Expect''': For Rarity to have finished her opening preparations well in advance of opening night, preferably about a month or so.\\'''Instead''': Rarity puts it off until ''the morning the place is supposed to open''.\\'''The Result''': The preparations are a complete madhouse, and Rarity is only able to open by the skin of her teeth.* In "To Where and Back Again", Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army kidnaps and replaces the Mane 6, the royal sisters, and the crystal family, with the intent of bringing the love they will get back to her.\\'''You'd Expect''': For Chrysalis to have gone the extra mile to ensure her plan doesn't go awry, and kidnap (or at least try to kidnap) any others that might stand in her way (namely a powerful unicorn pony, a unicorn pony performer and illusionist, the embodiment of chaos itself, and a changeling turncoat who knows of the secret of her throne).\\'''Instead''': Chrysalis doesn't bother to search for them, even taunting that Starlight Glimmer wasn't worth replacing.\\'''The Result''': While the misfit group is whittled down by the time they reach the throne room, Starlight and Thorax manage to destroy Chrysalis' magic-negating throne, free their friends, and overthrow Chrysalis.** When the dust settles, the good guys are free, the Changelings have turned face, and Starlight offers the hoof of friendship to Queen Chrysalis, who rejects her, swears revenge, and makes a break for it.\\'''You'd Expect''': For somepony to shoot or bash her out of the sky with their infinite magical powers, reality-warping abilities, or faster-than-sound flying speed. ''Especially'' considering how she nearly conquered Equestria twice already (thrice if you count the comics as canon).\\'''Instead''': [[TheFarmerAndTheViper They let her get away.]]** Discord is split from the group, then just ''happens'' to find Fluttershy. He immediately recognizes that this is a trap, even lampshading it, so clearly he isn't fooled. Then, dozens of Fluttershys show up, crying at him that "I'm the real Fluttershy!"\\'''You'd Expect''': Seeing as how Discord just recognized that the changelings are trying to mess with him, he'd see that this is yet another trick and ignore them. In all likelihood, none of them are the real Fluttershy, and the real one is still being held prisoner somewhere.\\'''Instead''': Discord is completely paralyzed, and lets himself get captured by the changelings. Then again, they might have [[BreakTheHaughty broken him]]...[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 7]]* In "All Bottled Up" the Mane 6 go to a friendship retreat which is actually them having to escape a locked room. They plan to set a new record while they're in there by working as a group, and eventually manage to complete all the puzzles.\\'''You'd Expect''': For them to just turn the key and open the door.\\'''Instead''': They decide to sing a song in the middle of it and completely forget about unlocking the door. Because of this, the group misses the new record by two whole seconds.[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Equestria Girls'' Movies]][[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: ''Equestria Girls'' ]]

* After Twilight Sparkle's coronation, she uses the Element of Magic, one-sixth of the most powerful magic known to ponykind, as a crown.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Twilight to keep the crown in a safe place when she isn't using it, as Celestia had done with the Elements of Harmony even then where was no present threat in Equestria.\\'''Instead:''' She believes that leaving it on the nightstand while she's sleeping will be safe enough. This provides the perfect opportunity for Sunset Shimmer to steal it overnight.\\'''To Make Matters Worse:''' Celestia had given the elements to Twilight for part of Season 3 in case Discord reverted to his old ways. Twilight kept them in an unlocked glass case on the first floor of the library. Clearly the thought of thieves never occurred to Twilight in the first place.* Vice-principal Luna receives doctored photos that frame Twilight for wrecking the gym. These are ''literally'' pictures of Twilight that were cut-and-pasted onto pictures of the wrecked gym.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Luna to immediately spot that they're crude and blatantly obvious forgeries.\\'''Instead:''' She's completely convinced that they're real until she's shown the cut-up remains of the photos that were used to create them.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: ''Rainbow Rocks'' ]]

* In the Pre-Movie Short "Hamstocalypse Now", Fluttershy asks Rarity to watch over a group of hamsters while she cleans their home.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rarity to pretty much do just that.\\'''Instead:''' She designs little outfits for the hamsters, which results in them running amok and chewing on her creations.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: ''Friendship Games'' ]]

* During the titular games, a magic-detecting amulet created by Twilight Sparkle's human counterpart goes haywire and rips open several portals to Equestria, allowing maniacal living plants to attack everyone in sight. Rainbow Dash is forced to use her magic in order to save several students from being eaten alive. This is seen by everyone from both schools, including Crystal Prep principal Abacus Cinch.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Cinch to realize the games are becoming too dangerous and to call them off, as suggested by Principal Celestia.\\'''Instead:''' Cinch assumes that Canterlot High is cheating, citing the "trained attack plants" and Rainbow Dash's wings, despite the monster plants attacking their students as well, and insists they continue.\\'''You'd Then Expect:''' Knowing that Canterlot High School's students have magic, and that it almost caused disaster in the last event, Cinch wouldn't mess around with it. Human Twilight even tells Cinch that, despite her amulet, she's not entirely sure how magic works.\\'''Instead:''' In flagrant violation of this advice, Cinch orders Human Twilight to use the power of the amulet [[SkewedPriorities to gain an edge in the Games so that her legacy of winning will be preserved.]]\\'''The Result''': [[spoiler:Twilight opens the amulet, and the power contained within drives her insane and turns her into a raging she-demon who almost destroys the ''multiverse''.]] Nice going, you ''moron''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: ''Legend of Everfree'' ]]

* Camp Everfree is in danger of shutting down because Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce can't afford the payments on the land, with Flithy Rich planning to tear down the camp and open a day spa. While in distress over this, Gloriosa comes across a cave with magic crystals that give her [[GreenThumb the power to control plants]].\\'''You'd Expect:''' Gloriosa and Timber would reach out to former campers for a fundraiser or donations. Since Filthy Rich gave Gloriosa more time to find a way to come up with money, even a few phone calls might raise enough. Or, if they want something more concrete, have Gloriosa sell her ability to anyone who wants to see it. Proving the existence of supernatural powers would net her and her brother a small fortune.\\'''Instead:''' [[spoiler:Gloriosa chooses to fight off anyone who tries to shut the camp down with her powers. Even Timber tells Gloriosa this is a bad idea, but she's insistent. Gloriosa not only [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide bites off more than she can chew]], but she almost seals in the campers who are already there, and nearly destroys her own camp.]]\\'''Even Worse:''' [[spoiler:The Humane Seven suggest a fundraiser at the end of the movie, and it works. Apparently, the thought of asking former campers for money never even occurred to Gloriosa until they suggested it.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:IDW Comics]]* ''Siege of the Crystal Empire'':** Issue #34: In the beginning of the arc, Radiant Hope goes around as a cloaked figure, approaching Flim, Flam, Iron Will and Lightning Dust who are down on their luck. She promises each of them redemption (and revenge against the Apples and Rainbow Dash for the Flim Flam brothers and Lightning Dust respectively) in exchange for them sabotaging the Crystal Faire.\\'''You'd Think:''' Flim, Flam, Iron Will, and Lightning Dust would [[EvenEvilHasStandards not go about trusting a total stranger]] and consider that doing so could put the Crystal Empire or worse Equestria at risk.\\'''Instead:''' They allow themselves to be lured in by the hooded figure's promise without a second thought. They only realize that they DidntThinkThisThrough when they are told that their actions will result in the release of the Umbrum.** During the fight scene in Issue #35, Flim and Flam approach Pinkie Pie who is using her party cannon as a weapon. Flim asks Pinkie if he can take a look at her cannon.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Pinkie Pie to refuse and not let either of them get anywhere near the cannon except to maybe shoot them out of it.\\'''Instead:''' She shows the cannon to Film and Flam and assures them that they could fit a pony inside it. The brothers stuff her inside the cannon and shoot her into a cage, knocking Rarity in there as well.** Near the end of Issue #36, Twilight and her friends confront Radiant Hope in King Sombra's study where Sombra is about to release the Umbrum into the Cyrstal Empire. Twilight works up a huge burst of magic in a last-ditch effort to stop him, despite Cadence's objection.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Everypony to get out of the way so she can attack Sombra. Twilight has been proven to have powerful magic and a burst that could take out Sombra could very well destroy anything in its way.\\'''Instead:''' Radiant Hope [[TakingTheBullet jumps in the way of Twilight's beam]], despite knowing Sombra is LEAGUES stronger and tougher than she is. She leaves herself seriously injured and Sombra comes out unscathed. Sombra then opens the door, releasing the Umbrum.** At the beginning of #37, the Umbrum have a NearVillainVictory and are deciding on how to punish Twilight and Cadance once and for all. Then, the latter suggest being taken to a very specific, public spot to make the best statement to the Umbrum's enemies.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rabia, the Umbrum's leader, to immediately suspect a trap and refuse, especially since Sombra tries to do just that.\\'''Instead:''' She gleefully agrees, even congratulating Twilight and Cadance on their malicious-sounding idea. This, in turn, allows their friends, family, and allies to attack the Umbrum in such a way that ultimately leads to their defeat and re-imprisonment, even after Sombra tried to warn her.* ''Election'':** Issue #46: Ponyville's new playground is inexplicably destroyed by an earthquake. At a town hall meeting, Mayor Mare warns the residents that earthquakes can happen at any time and that they need to be on guard in case another one happens.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The citizens of Ponyville to keep level heads and take the mayor's advice. She had no control over how the earthquake, a natural disaster, happened and assured the town that she had ponies looking into it.\\'''Instead:''' They throw the mayor under the bus, blaming her for misuse of the land and accusing her of not having the town prepared in case another earthquake strikes. This allows Filthy Rich to throw his hat into the ring and run against Mayor Mare.[[/folder]]